Albers & the Bauhaus

Info

Stephen Friedman Gallery
11 Old Burlington Street
London W1S 3AQ
February 10 – March 12, 2016

Words

While the core of this exhibition revolves around the output of Josef Albers in the 1920s and '30s, it also includes the work of Marcel Breuer, Otto Lindig and Marianne Brandt, as a means of creating a more complete sense of the Bauhaus and its ideals. The resulting collection of drawings, paintings, photographs, furniture, ceramics, glassware and other objects is displayed alongside a series of artworks produced by Albers and his wife, Anni, between the 1940s and '70s. With two weeks of its run at the Stephen Friedman Gallery to go, this is an essential show for anyone interested in modernist art and design, as well as the unmistakable influence of the Bauhaus.

—Stephen Friedman Gallery

Beyond the Bouquet: Floral Arrangements Inspired by Ikebana

01

02

Images

—01-02. Vases by Victoria Morris.

Words

The Line continues to publish some of the most elegant online editorial content, this time focusing on Marisa Competello and a series of special floral arrangements. The images, beautifully captured by Hanna Tveite, feature items from the bicoastal store's selection of homewares, jewelry and clothing, while the text by Marc Palatucci discusses Competello's successful transition from fashion to flowers.

—The Line

How to Draw a Bunny

01

Image

—01. Ray Johnson.

Words

"John Walter and Andrew Moore’s critically acclaimed film, How To Draw A Bunny, delves into the ever-eccentric, unquestionably enigmatic world of Ray Johnson. Billed as a 'Pop Art mystery movie,' How to Draw a Bunny launches into the investigation of the puzzling circumstances surrounding Johnson's suicide on Friday January 13, 1995 that left both his closest admirers as well as the general public baffled, wondering about the role of 'performance' in his life and in relation to his death. From Detroit to Black Mountain College to the streets of New York, How to Draw a Bunny works at the intervals, collaging together the identity of a unique artist who contributed mightily but often in an oblique manner to the explosion of Pop. According to Judith Hoffberg of Artscene, the film 'conveys how the work of the reclusive Johnson was ahead of its time in terms of both its conceptual approach and challenge to the commercial and critical establishment.' Johnson drew together the past and the present, people from all walks of life — dead and alive — and synthesized materials from text, to found objects, to textiles, into collages packed densely with subtle humour, rich pop iconography, and endless allusions to his own wider circle as a never-ending riff on contemporary culture." Watch this intriguing, hard-to-find film wherever you can.

—Ray Johnson Estate

Kenneth Noland: Unbalanced

Info

Paul Kasmin Gallery
515 West 27th Street
New York, NY 10001
January 28 – February 27th, 2016

Words

"It’s been on my mind – what would something be like if it were unbalanced? It’s been a vexing question for a long time. But it took the experience of working with radical kinds of symmetry, not just a rectangle, but a diamond shape, as well as extreme extensions of shapes, before I finally came to the idea of everything being unbalanced, nothing vertical, nothing horizontal, nothing parallel. I came to the fact that unbalancing has its own order. In a peculiar way it can still end up feeling symmetrical." Kenneth Noland, 1977

—Paul Kasmin Gallery

Alexander Calder: Performing Sculpture

Info

Tate Modern
Bankside
London SE1 9TG
November 11, 2015 – April 3, 2016

Words

While the initial press coverage has certainly died down and fans of Calder's work have surely seen the show, Performing Sculpture at London's Tate Modern has almost two months of its lengthy run to go. Charting the evolution of the American sculptor's practice, from early wire forms to his career-defining mobiles, the exhibition uses pieces from museums around the world to tell the story of one modernism's most important figures. With a strong focus on the 1930s and early '40s, particular attention is paid to the Cirque Calder performances that captured the imagination of the Parisian avant-garde; a revelatory visit to Piet Mondrian's studio; and the essential role of motion. If you live in London or find yourself in the capital before April 3rd, you really should make time to go. Like the Agnes Martin retrospective that preceded it, this is not something to be missed.

—Tate Modern

Drawing Then: Innovation and Influence in American Drawings of the Sixties

Info

Dominique Lévy
909 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10021
January 27 – March 19, 2016

Words

Dominique Lévy in New York is currently showing a selection of drawings from some of my favourite artists. Curated by Kate Ganz, the exhibition features a variety of works by the likes of Agnes Martin, Brice Marden, Sol LeWitt, Richard Tuttle, Ellsworth Kelly and Josef Albers, among others. Looking at the evolution of drawing and the development of some of America's most prolific minimalists during an important time in the country's history, the show's tone is calm and mature, highlighting the power and impact their seemingly simple compositions.

—Dominique Lévy

Sculpture 4tet: Luciano Fabro, Jean-Luc Moulène, Bruce Nauman & Danh Vō

Info

Marian Goodman Gallery
5-8 Lower John Street
London, W1F 9DY
January 12 – February 20, 2016

Words

"What’s in a name? And how can certain contemporary artworks benefit from a critical reflection on the ancient term, ‘sculpture’? Bringing together the work of four artists from different backgrounds and generations, it is this question that the exhibition Sculpture 4tet poses. To retain the name ‘sculpture’ for the works that comprise the exhibition is to insist on the multiple effects of memory that they deploy. Each of the artists, in their own way, can be considered an enemy of amnesia: mythology, history of art, personal memory and rumours of past events are as much materials as the marble, metal or neon with which they work. The human figure, often taking fragmentary or more metaphorical forms, pervades the works and it is thus the even older concept of the ‘statue’ that echoes in the back and forth of associations of the exhibition."

—Marian Goodman Gallery

Chris Burden – Buddha's Fingers

Info

Gagosian Gallery
980 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10075
January 19 – February 20, 2016

Words

"Buddha's Fingers (2014–15) is a dense cluster of 32 antique cast-iron vernacular street lamps, electrified with cool, bright LED bulbs and standing almost 12 feet tall. The work is related to Urban Light (2008), Burden's celebrated permanent installation of 202 lamp posts, which stands at the entrance to LACMA in Los Angeles. In 2000, Burden began collecting the street lamps that used to line residential streets in Los Angeles during the 1920s and 1930s, and repurposed them as sculptural installations. In Buddha’s Fingers, the hexagonal lamp bases are set in a tight honeycomb formation. The whimsical title refers to the fingered citrus fruit 'buddha's hand,' a recurrent still-life motif and subject in classical Asian art, and a religious symbol of happiness, longevity, and good fortune."

—Gagosian Gallery